


Life is (Uber) Hard These Days

by GachMoBrea



Series: My Father, Barry Allen [18]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (Oops.), AU, Alternate Universe, Alternative POVs, Angst, Barry is Len's DAD, Captain Cold - Freeform, Child In Danger, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father!Barry, Fatherly Talks, Feels, Fights, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, LEN!!!, Len's Acceptance, Little!Len, Metahuman Lewis, Nora Lives!, OOC, Protective!Lisa, Rescue, Ronnie Lives!, SPOILER TAGS!!, Some Fluff, Son!Len, Step-Mom!Iris, Team, Team Flash, The Polar Bear, Then Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 22:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7988170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This piece starts off as fluffy as West-Allen famous, no nonsense pancakes... <br/>Then there are some fatherly talks with Barry & Henry, followed by mother/son bonding with Iris and Len....<br/>Then the Uber Bad Guy shows up and ruins everything...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fluff & Dad Talks

Len wakes to sunshine, birds singing, and an aching stomach. He groans, rolling over in his bed to wrap an arm around Captain Cold; he accidentally smacks Barry in the face.  
"Hm?" Len rubs at his eyes a little to stare at the speedster. Barry is mirroring him, then the man's face breaks out into a hopeful grin.  
"Did you sleep okay, kiddo?" Barry asks him, touching his forehead for a temperature not doubt. "Any bad dreams? Any pain? Nausea? Headache? Dizziness?"  
"Hungry," he replies with a small smirk when it shocks the man. "I think Caitlin's medicine made the bad dreams go away."  
"Thank goodness," the speedster practically melts in relief, touching Len's head again. "You don't feel like you're burning up either, so that's good."  
"Can we have West-Allen famous, no nonsense pancakes?" Len asks as he continues to lay in the bed. He doesn't want to move just yet. "And can I have butter and syrup on mine with chocolate milk?"  
Barry chuckles, pulling Len and his bear out of the bed so the boy doesn't have to get up on his own. "I'll make you whatever you want, Len. Today is going to be all about you."  
"That's nice," Len sighs, hugging Cold as he's carried to the kitchen. "Does that mean I can eat on the couch?"  
The speedster chuckles again, "Only if you promise not to get anything on it."  
"I won't."

Barry puts Len on the couch to rest while he prepared the pancakes. As the batter hits the pan, Iris comes down the stairs to sit next to the boy.  
"Hey, honey," she kisses his cheek. "I know your Dad already asked this a hundred times, but how did you sleep last night?"  
"Better," he tells her, inwardly cringing at the word 'Dad'.  
"Good," Iris smiles, kissing him again. "I'm going to go check on Daddy for a minute. Okay?"  
"Kay."

As wife goes to greet her husband, Len's mind trails back to a decision he never made.  
'What should I do?'  
It would take a few more days for him to really feel like the drug had worked, but then what? If it has, he'll have to keep taking it to keep the 'teleporting' or whatever, at bay. Why he even had that kind of power was strange.  
'Except...' Len frowns. Maybe when the Oculus blew, it somehow affected how THIS Leonard came into his powers? Would that mean the 'other Len' would have ended up a speedster like Barry? Or is this some sort of aftershock?  
Those were questions he couldn't answer. Might never be able to know the answer to.  
The only thing he could try to figure out was, what to do about Barry?  
Len couldn't expect to go back to HIS universe and step back into his criminal ways. He wouldn't be able to LIFT the Cold Gun, let alone use it.  
'Cold Gun.' Right, he gave that to Mick. HIS Mick. So he'd be down another advantage against his enemy.....Enemy?  
Looking over to the loving couple, Len couldn't think of them as enemy plus one anymore. They were.............They were................................Family?

'Should I stay or should I go' is put on hold when Barry carries over a large plate of pancakes with all the works.  
"Wow," Len can't hold in his admiration. His stomach is already growling in anticipation as the hero pulls the coffee table closer for his son to reach the plate.  
"Just this once," Iris sighs, looking over at her boys. "We can't break house rules all the time."  
"Extenuating circumstances," Barry nods, smiling as Len starts to dig in. Then he jumps up with a shout, "Chocolate milk!"  
In a flash, the drink is on the coffee table, next to the plate.  
"Thanks," Len says, reaching for the cup to down the mouthful he was speaking around.  
"Man, does that look good," Iris chuckles, watching the boy's enthusiasm as he eats. She looks to her husband, "Did you make me any? Or did you use up all the ingredients making Len's?"  
Barry rubs Len on the shoulder before going back to the kitchen. "Serving two, coming up!"  
Iris sits next to Len again and watches him eat while Barry cooks. Joe is at work, smoothing things over for his son-in-law for when he comes back at the end of the week.  
"Maybe I should be a stay-at-home Dad?" the speedster remarks when he returns with two more plates of food, one for his wife and one for himself. "I can do my hero duties on the side still, but otherwise I can focus on Len."  
"You can't follow him around like a shadow or a lost puppy," Iris remarks idly as she starts to cut into her breakfast. "I loath the day I have to claw you off him on the first day of school."  
"There are studies that children learn more when schooled at home," Barry begins, but stops at his wife's glare. "But we aren't going to do that, are we?"  
"No. We're not."  
"Can I have some more?"  
Barry blinks at Len's empty plate. 'How did he eat all that already?'  
"You sure you have room for it?" he asks his boy as he takes the plate.  
Len shrugs, "I haven't been eating a lot. Please?"  
"Sure," the speedster smiles, going back to the kitchen. "We'll need to go shopping later. A family outing!"  
"Henry's coming over to have a look at Len," Iris reminds him. "Nora had to use her 'special tone' to keep Amy and Lisa at bay."  
"Yeah, I don't think their babying would help right now," Barry sighs, flipping a pancake. "Lisa would probably-"  
The speedster shakes his head. "Never mind."  
Iris sighs sadly, knowing what her husband was going to say. Or an idea of it. 'Lisa would probably blame me. Because she'd know it was my fault.'  
"Does Dad blame himself for what's happening?" Len whispers to his step mother as he keeps careful watch of the man in the kitchen.  
Iris leans closer to the boy, wraps an arm around his small body, and thanks every lucky star she ever wished on that Len was alright. "Your Dad blames himself for everything."  
"He shouldn't," the boy remarks, looking down at the fork in his hand. "Not everything is his fault. Sometimes-"  
Len cuts himself off with a shake of his head, just like his father had.  
"Sometimes, what?" Iris presses gently, willing to drop the subject if it was too hard for the boy to talk about. "What's the matter?"  
The boy's voice is so quiet when he answers, "Sometimes the right person to blame, is the one you think is the victim."  
'What on earth? That doesn't make any sense.' Iris frowns, trying to form the proper words to get to the bottom of her boy's sadness, but Barry returns all chipper glee and with another plate of pancakes.  
"I hope this fills you up, Len," Barry smiles as he places the plate. "Because we're out of eggs."  
"Thanks," Len smiles, but it looks a little forced to Iris. Then the boy goes back to eating and so does Barry, so Iris decides she'll get to the bottom of the issue herself.

***-***

Henry arrives with a big smile and a loud greeting of, "Hey family!"  
"Hi, dad," Barry pulls the man in for a hug, then lets Iris do the same. "Nice to see you, Henry; as always."  
"Where's the tyke?" Dr. Allen walks over to Len to give him a hug next. "How're you feeling, my boy?"  
"Fine."  
"You don't mind if I double check for myself, do you?"  
"No."  
The one word answers spike the already growing worry in Iris's heart, but she keeps her face devoid of her concerns as her father-in-law checks Len.  
"He looks good to me," Henry announces happily as he puts his medical things away. "Of course, I'm not going to run any tests or do any scans. Dr. Snow said she'd email those to me when she performs them."  
"He's good. That's good. Good." Barry keeps nodding, eyes glued to his son who slips off the coffee table he was put on to find something to do.  
"Oh, no," the older Allen sighs, seeing 'the look' in his son's face again. The same one he had last time they had to have a talk. "Iris," he looks to his daughter-in-law. "Would you mind watching Len while I talk to Barry outside?"  
"Of course," Iris smiles in relief. "Take all the time you need."  
Henry rubs at her arm in thanks before dragging his son out the back door for Round #2 of fatherly talks.

 

"There's no talking me out of my guilt this time, Dad," Barry heads him off the second they're alone. "It's because of my powers that Len is suffering."  
"Barry, you didn't choose to have your powers," his father points out, frowning at his son's grimace. "No one expected that machine of Wells' to malfunction and explode. No one expected metahumans to be created. No one blames you for being the hero you are and you shouldn't feel bad about all the good you've done as The Flash."  
"What good have I done?" Barry throws his hands in the air. "What good is it if I save a millions lives but cause the death of my own son?"  
"You're not responsible for what's happening to Len."  
"I am his father!" the speedster points out. "I was hit with the pulse from the particle accelerator explosion. I got Patty pregnant and brought Len into the world."  
Henry hates himself for asking, "Do you wish he didn't exist?"  
"What?" his son's eyes grow large in alarm. "No!"  
"Then stop feeling guilty about being Leonard's dad!" Henry uses his commanding tone he usually reserved for his underlings at the hospital when they thought they knew everything. "I love my grandson. Iris and Joe love him. Your mother loves him. Amy and Lisa can't get enough of him. Patty loved him more than anything and you dare to stand there and tell me you feel bad about that?"  
"I don't regret having Len, Dad," Barry assures him with a pained look. "I regret not being the father he deserves to have. A normal parent without any powers. Powers that can apparently be passed down. Powers that are causing him pain!"  
"No one wants that poor boy to suffer," Henry says firmly. "Everyone in this entire family would do everything it took to keep him safe. Especially you."  
"But I can't! Not with this. I can't do anything!"  
"That's the burden of a parent, Barry," his father sighs. "What do you think was going through my mind when you were in that coma for all those months? Do you think I was happy to see you lying in that bed? Do you think that's what I wanted for you?"  
"I wasn't in that coma because of something you did."  
"So are you angry at Dr. Wells?" Henry pushes. "Because I was under the assumption that you had forgiven him. You invited him to be one of your groomsmen at your wedding to Iris."  
"I DO forgive him," Barry confesses. "It was a mistake. One that cost Wells a lot more than any man should suffer."  
"A mistake. A glitch in life that we can't control. That's what you'd call the explosion?"  
"I suppose," the speedster shrugs.  
"THAT is what's happening to Len right now," Henry tell him. "This is no one's fault. It's just a glitch in his DNA. Len wouldn't be here without you, so you can't blame yourself over that."  
"Sure I can," Barry remarks, but he smiles at his father. "As long as I want to continue being an idiot, that is."  
Henry pulls him in for another hug.  
"I love you, Barry," the older Allen says, patting his boy a few times. "I love your kid. I love this family. I don't like to see them hurt, but when it happens we have to be strong for them. We have to fight even when no one knows there's a battle."  
Barry hugs back just as tightly, holding back the tears because he doesn't want to feel regret anymore. "Len's fine. I'll do everything in my power to keep him that way."  
"That's my boy."

\---


	2. Iris & Len

**Iris**

Iris takes the weekend off. She stands next to Len as Joe drags Barry out the door to go to work. Her father decides to just shove the man into his vehicle and drive them both to work that day.  
Once the taillights are out of sight, Iris turns to their boy. "Len?"  
"Hm?" the boy keeps looking forward to where the car disappeared.  
"I think we need to talk."

She takes him to the park for fresh air and a change of scenery. School's in, so there are only a few people, mothers and their babies, joggers, the elderly...  
Iris guides him to the place where Barry 'popped the question'. There's an empty bench near a tree that looks out over a small pond. They both take a seat before she looks over to her son.  
"I know something is wrong, Len," she tells him softly. He stiffens, only furthering her worry and suspicions, but keeps his focus on the water. Her willingness to let the subject drop is gone. She needs to know what's wrong so that she can fix it. Her family has been through enough already.  
When the boy still doesn't say anything she presses a little more, "Won't you tell me what's going on?"  
Len shakes his head, eyes shining like the water. Iris pulls him closer.  
"Leonard," she murmurs, keeping her voice feather soft like her mother used to when trying to get painful information from her. "I love you. I want to help, but I need you to tell me what is bothering you."  
Her boy tucks his legs onto the bench to hug them to his chest. He still remains silent.  
She sighs sadly, "You said that sometimes the right person to blame is the one you think is the victim."  
More silence.  
"Do you think this is all your fault, Len?" she asks him, nudging him in her arms to make sure he was listening. "Do you think that just because it's about you that it has to be your fault?"  
"No matter what I do." Len finally speaks but his voice is almost too low to hear. "I'll end up hurting...people..."  
"You're just like your father sometimes," Iris can't help but admit. She gets off the bench to kneel in front of her son. "This is not your fault. None of it. Not the tiniest amount."  
"You don't understand," the boy frowns, unable to look her in the eyes.  
"I understand that two people that I love very much are being idiots," Iris's motherly instincts berate her for using the word 'idiot' to describe her boy, but she needs to push as many buttons as she can in order to get at least one of them to see reason. "You didn't ask for your powers, and that's what they are Len, powers, but you have them. You just aren't old enough to control them. Maybe the medicine Caitlin gives you will make them go away forever, who knows? Maybe you'll get them again next year and know just how to handle them? Maybe they'll change? I'm not as smart as Caitlin or a doctor like Grandpa Henry, but I know you. I know you can handle anything the world throws at you. You just need time to adjust."  
Something in her speech seems to lift her boy's spirits and she smiles at his tiny smirk.  
"I love you, Leonard," she tells him, stroking his cheek as he finally looks her in the eyes. "No matter what happens in the future. I always will."  
Len nods, his cheek rubbing against her hand. Then he whispers, "Thank you."  
She kisses him on the cheek and then pulls her boy into a hug.  
They stay on the bench for a while, lost in their own little world, as they watch the sun shine on the surface of the water and the world continues to move around them. 

Len's growling stomach comically ends the moment.  
"That's another thing you have in common with your father," Iris chuckles as they get to their feet. "An unending appetite!"  
She unsuccessfully tries to get Len to skip along with her as they leave the park........  
......Blissfully unaware of the danger lurking on the other side of the pond......

**Len**

When Iris said, "I think we need to talk." Len thought it was the end of everything.  
It was a foolish thought. HOW could the woman know her step-son's body had been taken over by a hitchhiker? But, Len still couldn't help but panic a little as she took him to the park and picked out a specific spot.  
Len wasn't sure what meaning the spot was supposed to have, but he could tell by the way Iris looked at the place that it was special.  
He knows when they sit that he's in for 'a talk' but he sits anyway.  
"I know something is wrong, Len," she tells him softly. He stiffens.  
'What do you know? HOW do you know it? What could you possibly say that will change how wrong it feels for me to be here?'  
Len keeps staring at the water. He can't look at the woman. Doesn't want to see the worry or concern he doesn't deserve to have.  
Apparently, she isn't the type to give up, "Won't you tell me what's going on?"  
He shakes his head, keeps staring at the water and hating himself.  
"Leonard," she murmurs, voice feather soft like his mother used to when she cared. Before she ran off. "I love you. I want to help, but I need you to tell me what is bothering you."  
'I can't.' He tucks his legs up to his chest. Maybe if he remains quiet she'll give up?  
Iris sighs sadly, "You said that sometimes the right person to blame is the one you think is the victim."  
'Everything is my fault. Barry's pain. The loss of his real son. Everything.'  
"Do you think this is all your fault, Len?" she asks him, nudging him. The woman was very perceptive. "Do you think that just because it's about you that it has to be your fault?"  
The silent treatment clearly isn't going to work. So Len finally tells her, voice painfully quiet, "No matter what I do. I'll end up hurting..." Barry. "People..."  
"You're just like your father sometimes," Iris says. She gets off the bench to kneel in front of him. "This is not your fault. None of it. Not the tiniest amount."  
"You don't understand," Len frowns, still looking away otherwise he won't be able to breathe. 'If I hadn't blown myself up at the Oculus-If I had never come here-'  
"I understand that two people that I love very much are being idiots." He respects her for using the word 'idiot'. It's very 'tough love' and he can handle that better. "You didn't ask for your powers, and that's what they are Len, powers, but you have them. You just aren't old enough to control them. Maybe the medicine Caitlin gives you will make them go away forever, who knows? Maybe you'll get them again next year and know just how to handle them? Maybe they'll change? I'm not as smart as Caitlin or a doctor like Grandpa Henry, but I know you. I know you can handle anything the world throws at you. You just need time to adjust."  
'Save the world if you really HAVE to Lenny.' Lisa had remarked with a worried smirk right before he joined Rip's team. 'I know my big brother can make the world a better place. You certainly did for me.'  
*'It's okay Leonard Snart. I am not sad.'*  
'There, sir, stop. Let us not burden our remembrances with a heaviness that’s gone...These are not natural events...This above all: to thine own self be true...Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt...What's done is done.'

"I love you, Leonard," she tells him, stroking his cheek as he finally finds the strength to look her in the eyes. "No matter what happens in the future. I always will."  
'I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it.'  
Len nods, his cheek rubbing against her hand. He whispers, "Thank you."  
She kisses him on the cheek and then pulls him into a hug. 

'Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it; he died as one that had been studied in his death to throw away the dearest thing he owed, as 't were a careless trifle.'  
Len decides that this world was worth fighting for. Without him there is no Leonard Allen. He's willing to give up Leonard Snart, a cold-hearted criminal, in order to be the man he might have been if his own world had been different.  
He will still be him. He can't, nor does he want to, get rid of any part of himself. He'll build a new life here with his new family. Slowly let them in if he can.  
For the sake of a speedster.

His stomach growls, ending his serious train of thought.  
"That's another thing you have in common with your father," Iris chuckles as they get to their feet. "An unending appetite!"  
She tries to get him to skip along with her. But, like he thought before, he is still HIM. So he just patiently walks by her side, keeping his hand in hers.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Len's a closet poet. He read Shakespeare in high school because some of what the man talked about he agreed with and the drama kids were easy to pick pocket.


	3. Uber Villainy

It's a lovely fall day. The leaves are falling from the trees while Lisa and Len play in the backyard, trying to catch as many as they can before they hit the ground.  
"Ha! Another ten! I get a kiss!" Lisa announces breathlessly, waving the leaves over her head as she jogs over to Len. She pats her face. "Right on the nose this time."  
Len kisses her in the requested area and the teenager falls backwards into a fit of giggles.  
"It tickles!" she breathes out before breaking into another bout of giggles.  
"If you keep laying around, you'll lose the next round," Len warns her, four newly caught leaves already in his hands. "Remember, I get to text whoever I want if I win."  
"NO!" Lisa protests, instantly sitting up. "You texted my mom that I wanted to take ice skating lessons! She got soo excited now I HAVE to go!"  
"Then you better hurry up or I'll have you taking advanced literature next."  
"I see your villainous side and raise you a cheating swipe!" Lisa snatches the connected pair that was spinning its way towards Len's awaiting hands. "Bwahahaha!"  
A bitterly cold wind knocks the two to the ground and Lisa scurries over to Len to try and protect him from it with her body.  
"What the heck?" she shouts, then the wind dies down. She looks Len over worriedly, "Are you okay, baby?"  
"Yeah," he assures her with a nod. "That was weird wind though."

"Pardon the intrusion, children."

Lisa and Len turn to stare at the strange, white-haired man standing in the back yard. He's dressed mostly in black and dark navy; pants and a no sleeve vest with a faux-fur lined hood.  
The grin he gives Len makes him feel colder than the wind had.  
"Who are you?" Lisa demands as she stands, phone in hand as she starts call Barry.  
"None of that, please," the man motions to the device with one hand and the device is shot out of the teenager's hand by an icicle.  
Lisa screams and drops to her knees to wrap her arms around Len.  
"I hate it when women scream," the man remarks with a frown. "Even premature women."  
"What do you want?" Len growls, hugging Lisa as she shakes in fear.  
"You," the man points to Len. He crooks his finger for the boy to come to him. "Hurry up or I'll freeze your girlfriend."  
"NO!" Lisa screams again, getting her shaking legs under herself as she pulls Len up with her. She starts to run away while shouting, "HELP! POLICE! METAHUMAN ATTACK!"  
Len sees the man motioning at them again as he follows at a unhurried pace and he pulls in Lisa's hold to bring them to the ground. The wave of ice passes over them and freezes part of a tree into a solid block.  
"Lisa," Len tells the teenager as she catches her breath. "You've got to leave me. Run for it."  
"Over my dead body," she tells him, pushing herself back to her feet to run again.  
"Must you keep running?" the man sighs, pausing to point downwards and freezing the ground into an ice skating rink. Lisa slips, her body turning on instinct to protect Len and her head hits the ice, knocking her out.  
"Lisa?" Len gets off her to kneel at her side, checking her head for blood. There's only a bump but the teenager is definitely out for the count. And defenseless.  
He carefully stands as the mystery man walks over to him casually, hands in his pockets as he continues to grin. Len slip-slides to Lisa's feet and opens his arms wide.  
"Don't you touch her!" he barks at the stranger, glaring with every fiber of his small body. "If you want me? Fine! Take me! But leave her alone!"  
"Such bravery from someone so small," the man remarks with a sneer. He nods, offering Len his hand. "Deal. Come with me if you want her to live."  
Len glances back to Lisa to make sure she was still breathing before taking a steadying breath himself. He turns his glare back to his new enemy and takes his ice cold hand.  
"Good," the man's grin practically cracks his face. He pulls Len into his arms and a whirlwind of white surrounds them.  
Len can't breath. Is it fear? No. It's like there's no oxygen. Blackness reaches the edges of his vision as he keeps trying to breathe, caught in the hold of the metahuman.  
The blackness takes over his vision completely and he passes out.

**Barry**

Barry frowns at his tenth unanswered text. The first one was sent almost ten minutes ago. He had given his cousin the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was in the bathroom? But then the second went out, in case she didn't realize he had texted, and then last eight were quick succession after that.  
No answer.  
He takes his lunch break and runs to the house.

"Lisa?" Barry calls out when he walks through the front door. Nothing. Fear creeps into his heart and he doesn't care about keeping his secret. He runs throughout the entire house in a second. No sign of them.  
He runs outside and his heart stops. There's ice everywhere and a body lying on the ground.  
"LISA!" Barry is at her side less than a blink later, checking her for injuries and finding the bump on the back of her head. She groans as he touches it and her eyes flutter open.  
"Bar-Barry?" she mumbles confused, then her eyes widen in fear. "LEN!"  
The teenager pushes herself to her feet and nearly falls back down. Barry catches her by the elbow to steady her.  
"Lisa, where's Len?" he asks her, fear tightening in his heart as he waits for an answer.  
"Some metahuman took him," Lisa starts to cry, eyes searching for someone she knew she wouldn't see. "He took him. He took Lenny. I failed! I failed that baby boy!"  
Her knees buckle and she does fall that time, Barry going with her to soften the landing.  
"Did he have ice powers?" he guesses by the state of his back yard. Lisa nods, tears coming out more steadily as she starts to sob. "What did he look like?"  
"He," Lisa chokes. She slams her fist on the ground. "He wore black. He had-he had white hair and-and," the sobs wrack her body again as the words fail her. "I'm so sorry Barry! I'm so sorry Len!"  
She breaks apart and Barry pulls her into his arms to try and comfort her.  
He thinks fast. He needs to check the place over for clues, take a sample of the ice to Caitlin and Cisco to test for anything and everything.  
He has to get his son back.

He carries his cousin into the house and calls the team. Cisco tells him he'll check every camera in Central City for the metahuman while Caitlin preps her machines to test the samples when he brings them in. Amy drives like a maniac to come to her daughter's side in record time. Lisa breaks down anew in her mother's arms and Barry excuses himself. He takes the samples and runs to STAR Labs.  
Joe meets him there, face the very description of alarm.  
"A metahuman took Len?"  
"Lisa got a good look at him but she's in no state to give us a detailed description," Barry hands the sample off to Caitlin who immediately runs to her part of the lab. "I'm going back out to check the city."  
In a bolt of lightning, Barry is The Flash and out of the building.  
The detective stares at the already faded trails of lightning, "The entire city?" 

Barry's growing anger at the metahuman who has taken his son steadily grows into hatred as he runs throughout the city and turns up nothing. The only signs of ice are from industrious plants and factories that use or make the substance.  
The comm crackles into his darkening thoughts as he checks another warehouse and finding nothing.  
"Barry, I found something."  
The speedster is back in the Labs and staring at Caitlin with harbored breaths a moment later.  
"Okay," the scientist is unfazed by her friend's speed. "The ice is composed of the same elements you'd find in everyday ice."  
"But?" Because there had to be a but in order for her to call him in.  
"But, there are also traces of human DNA in the ice," Caitlin adds. "Did Lisa say how the metahuman made his ice?"  
"No."  
"Most metas are genetically connected to their powers," Dr. Wells rolls himself into the room with his wheelchair. "Past experiences would suggest that this newest metahuman is projecting the ice through his own body. Most likely his hands or eyes."  
"Dr. Wells," Barry is relieved to see the man. He wasn't sure if the man was coming when he hadn't answered his text. "Thank you for coming."  
"Let's focus on our metahuman, Mr. Allen," the scientist rolls passed the speedster to grab a tablet resting on a metal table. "Did you run a full spectral analysis, Dr. Snow? Have you run the DNA through the database? What other details on the meta do we have so far?"  
"Uh, yes, I did, it's on there," Caitlin snaps into scientist mode as she points at the report on the tablet. "Cisco's running the DNA now, but if he hasn't been arrested before it won't do us any good."  
"Then we better be working on the next thing," the man brushes off the concern as he continues to look over the reports.  
"Lisa says that the man wore black and had white hair, but other than that and his type of powers we don't have any other description," Barry finishes answering the older man's original questions.  
"Ka-boom! Barry!" Cisco calls out. Barry is there before his friend finishes his name.  
"I caught the creep," the genius points to the frozen image on one of the screens. "I'm running his face now. In a few minutes, I'll have everything the internet has on Gelid."  
"Gelid?" the speedster frowns, trying not to break the chair with his grip as he glares at the frozen image of the man who took his boy.  
"His name," Cisco raises his hands when his friend opens his mouth to protest. "I know it's early, but until I get the creep's real name, we need to call him something."  
"Gelid literally means icy; extremely cold," Wells remarks as he keeps his focus on the tablet.  
"Only a cold-hearted creature of darkness would take a kid," Cisco scowls, resuming his typing to search for the metahuman. "I wouldn't blame Barry for killing this one."  
"Murder is an unjustifiable action," Wells looks away from the device to level the genius with a disappointed look. "Barry isn't a killer."  
"Let's just focus on finding Gelid first," Caitlin brings the focus back before a theological debate can break out.  
Something 'beeps' and everyone searches for the cause.  
Cisco pulls up the results of the searches on Gelid on his computer and everyone stares at the photo.  
"Lewis Snart," Barry reads the name, insides churning with the desire to toss the man into the stratosphere. "Petty criminal. Long list of offenses."  
"And retired frozen foods delivery man," Cisco finishes with a growl. "The explosion must've hit the freezers in the truck and somehow gave him the power to be a real cold-hearted criminal."  
"List of last known addresses?" Wells prompts, looking up the information himself.  
"Yeah, a few," the genius answers. "but most of them are bars."  
"I'll check them all," Barry says. "You just give them to me one at a time."  
Cisco nods, pulling up the address as he reads out, "First one, the one he was last seen at, 'Saints and Sinners'...."

**Len**

It's so cold. It never bothered him in his universe. Not even when he was small like he is now. But here? Here he's cold.  
"You up yet, kid?" the stranger's voice growls impatiently. "I need to take a 'proof of life' video but your sleeping prince routine is preventing that."  
Len assumes the man knows he's awake. Otherwise, he'd play possum some more. So he opens his eyes and takes in his surroundings.  
They're in a living room. It's familiar but he can't quite place why. His chest is taped to a chair so he can only really see what's in front of him.  
The metahuman smiles as he points his phone at him. "Say hi to your daddy, Leo!"  
A shudder rips through Len at the nickname; and the voice.  
He's not as old as the Lewis he killed but just as young as when he last saw him, after stealing the JumpShip with Mick and Jax. But it's definitely this world's version of his father.  
"A little too cold for you?" Lewis chuckles. "Sorry, it's my powers. I can't help the affects my presence will have on you."  
"Why did you take me?" Len asks him calmly. He doesn't know what the man could possibly hope to get from a CSI. Maybe he wanted Barry to tamper with evidence?  
"I took you," the meta leans forward to rest his hands on his knees as he looks Len in the eyes. "Because I want to send The Flash a message."  
Len swallows down his fear, hopes he can keep it from his face as the man invades his space. The man knew Barry's secret. He's after revenge or wants Len as leverage.  
"Heroes need to know they aren't untouchable," Lewis chuckles, patting Len harshly on the shoulder and leaving a light frost there. "And I'm just the man to do that."

**Barry**

"Nothing here either," Barry growls, anger flaring at the burnt remains of a hotel in the lower area of Central City. "Any other addresses?"  
"Just one-crap!" Cisco grumbles a few curses while his friend runs back to STAR Labs.  
"What? What is it? Did you find him?" the speedster looks over all the faces of his friends before looking over the monitors and freezing in shock.  
Len is on one of the screens. Taped to a chair and looking absolutely petrified and his body shakes a little.  
"You think you're something special, Flash?" a male voice, obviously Lewis, laughs on the video. "Every man has a weakness and I have yours."  
"How could Gelid possibly have figured out your identity?" Cisco growls, finger flying to have his computer scan the video for clues. "He's just some two-bit criminal!"  
"Clearly, Mr. Snart is more intelligent or has more means than we are aware of," Wells comments with a deep frown. He looks away from the video. "It looks like young Leonard is being held in a domestic home, maybe even the living room."  
"The last address is his home address," Cisco informs the team. "He hadn't been there since he tried to kill his girlfriend."  
"I'm there," Barry reads the address and is gone in a bolt of lightning.  
Joe, who had remained in the background so as not to hinder their search, runs for the exit after the speedster leaves. He shouts over his shoulder, "Text me that address!"  
"Already on it's way!" Cisco calls back.  
Caitlin pulls out her own phone. "I'm calling Ronnie. I think The Flash could use some backup on this one."  
"Who'll watch the boys?" her friend asks as she holds the device to her ear.  
"I'll get Iris," the scientist decides. Then she turns her focus to the phone. "Ronnie? We think we know where Len is. Can you get the boys to Iris at Barry's house? I'll text you the address."  
She hangs up and calls the reporter next, "Iris. Yes, Barry is on his way to where we think he is. Take a breath-No! I need you to watch Mick and-Iris!" Caitlin frowns. "I KNOW you need to be there, but Ronnie needs to help Barry more!"  
She pulls the device away from her face.  
"What did she say?" Cisco asks.  
"She says Amy can do it," the scientist sighs. "I hope that address is the right one."  
"Otherwise Barry will run a hole in Central City."

**Len**

The frost on Len's shoulder hasn't melted. In fact, it's slowly starting to spread. It's reached halfway down his front and part of his back, strangely staying away from his neck. For now.  
"You're tough, Leo," Snart comments as he keeps a lookout through the front window. "Any other kid would be crying for his mommy by now."  
"Oh wait," the meta chuckles. "You ain't got a real mommy anymore, do you?"  
Len silently curses the man, imagining this version of Lewis Snart with an enormous icicle through his chest.  
"There it is," Lewis breathes excitedly. "The red streak."  
The meta strides over to Len and slices through the tape in a second, holding the boy to his chest with an icy sword to his throat as the speedster comes to a stop in the middle of the living room.  
"Flash," Lewis greets him jovially. "So good of you to come!"

**Barry**

Barry runs as fast as his legs will go but it isn't fast enough. He sees the house in the distance and tries to push himself harder.  
He bursts into the room and stops in front of his enemy. Len is hanging in Gelid's grasp, partially frozen and shivering. There's some sort of blade made of ice being held to his boy's throat and for the first time in his life, Barry thinks he can actually kill someone.  
"Let him go!" he barks at the meta, taking a threatening step closer.  
"Back off!" Lewis counters, pulling the blade closer, almost cutting. "You're fast but this blade is sharp. You'll never get your son without him getting hurt."  
"What do you want?" Barry demands, trying to lower his voice but failing as the anger roars in his chest.  
"I want to put you in your place!" Gelid sneers. "I want you to take that phone on the table and record yourself taking off that ridiculous cowl."  
"No!" Len protests, trying to wiggle free. He feels the blade cut his neck a little and he stills, hissing at the pain.  
"Len!" his father takes a step closer but Lewis repeats his order for the hero to stay.  
"Stop moving, kid!" Lew growls. "You won't get hurt if daddy does what I say."  
"Okay," Barry raises his hands in defeat. "I'll do it. I'll do whatever you want. Just pull the blade away from his neck so he can't accidentally hurt himself again."  
"No doing, hero," Lewis shakes his head. "I move this, you rush me. I'm not stupid. Just make the video so you can have your boy back."  
"Fine!" the hero keeps his hands up as he walks over to the device, eyes focused on his enemy. "But you better let him go after I do this."  
"Scouts honor," the meta laughs. "Now hurry up!"  
Barry picks it up and worriedly looks to his boy. Len looks so scared. The blood trickling down his neck is making Barry sick to his stomach. He'd do anything for his baby boy. Give up his powers forever. Give his own life.  
"Everything will be okay, Len," Barry tries to assure his son as he removes one glove to use the touch screen of the device. "Keep calm and don't move, okay kiddo?"  
"For a speedster, you sure are slow," Gelid frowns. "I told you to hurry up!"  
Barry sees Joe creeping up to the meta from behind, gun drawn and pointed to the enemy. He turns the deceive so that he can keep them in view and turns on the camera.  
"I am The Flash," he tells the phone as Joe gets closer. "I'm going to remove my cowl now and reveal my true identity."  
"Enough theatrics!" Lewis growls, lowering the blade ever so slightly. "I said move it!"  
Joe slams his weapon into the arm holding the blade. Gelid cries out in pain and surprise as the weapon is forced away from his hostage. Barry has Len in his arms and out of the building in seconds.  
"You have to go back for Joe!" Len shouts at him, pointing to the building. "Don't let that man hurt him!"  
"I-" Barry's response is cut off by Firestorm flying into the building.  
Gelid shouts and screams from inside as blasts of ice and fire fly out the windows. Joe runs out the front door, gun in hand, coat slightly singed as well as frozen, but otherwise looking okay.  
"FLASH!"  
Firestorm flies out the window towards them, being pushed by an enormous block of ice. Barry flashes the detective and his boy several blocks away before putting the child into the older man's arms.  
"Take care of him," Barry says then runs back to the house to help his friend, knowing he doesn't need an answer to know Joe will do exactly that.

*Other POV?*

As The Flash and Firestorm fight Gelid, Iris arrives with her car and barely puts it into park before running to her father and son.  
"Len!" she takes the boy from his grandfather's arms and hugs him tightly. "Oh, Len. Oh, Len. Oh you poor, dear boy."  
"I'm okay momma," he tells her, hugging her back. "I'm okay. Daddy saved me."  
"Of course he did, honey," Iris keeps hugging him as she looks up to her father. "Where's Barry?"  
"In that." Joe points to the ice and fire tornado several blocks away. The ice dies down until there's nothing of it at all. They wait as the fire slowly stops as well and hope that all is fine with their loved ones.

"Joe!"  
Henry Allen and his wife, Nora, runs towards them, both looking worried and scared until they see Len.  
"Leonard!" Nora wraps her arms around Iris still holding the boy. "Are you alright? How is he? What happened?"  
"Amy called me," Henry explains as the women hover over the child. "She said Len had been kidnapped by a metahuman. Lisa was knocked out and she wanted me to check on her to make sure things were okay."  
"Lisa?" Len's voice rises above the worried women's.  
"She's fine," Henry assures his grandson, taking hold of his foot since that's the only free part of him he can. "It's just a bump."  
"What about Dad?" Len asks next, trying to turn in the women's hold to see where the speedster was last. "Did that man get to him? Is he okay? What happened?"  
"Hush, honey," Iris strokes the top of his head to comfort him. "He'll be fine. You're dad is the fastest man alive. And he has super healing."  
"Not to mention he had Firestorm to watch his back," Joe adds.  
"Your dad probably already kicked that bad guy's butt and is probably trying to figure out how to drag his sorry self to jail," Henry smiles.  
Len still worries.

**Barry**

Using the combined powers of Ronnie's flames and Barry's speed, the two made a wind tunnel that sucked out all the oxygen, making it impossible for Gelid to breath and causing the criminal to pass out.  
The duo wait a few extra seconds after the man falls before stopping the effect.  
Barry looms over the man's almost still body. Gelid is still breathing, his chest is rising and lowering in a steady rhythm.  
The speedster's hand vibrates into a blur at his side. It would be so easy to finish the man off. He had to keep Len safe. Lewis could manage to escape like other metas had before and he'd come for Len again.  
Barry lifts his vibrating hand in front of himself. He imagines what it would feel like to put it through the man's rising and falling chest. Would it hurt? The dark part of Barry hopes it does.

A hand on his shoulder startles the speedster and he blinks away his murderous thoughts.  
"He's not worth it," Ronnie tells him with sad, knowing eyes. "Don't give that monster a part of yourself you can't get back. Let justice take its course instead."  
"He hurt Len," Barry growls low in his chest where the anger still burns hot and strong as his voice rises, "He took my son and threatened to kill him right in front of me! He cut my boy's neck!"  
"And for that he deserves life in prison," Ronnie shakes his head. "Not death. Not by your hands. Not when all you can think about is vengeance and pain."  
Barry's hand still vibrates at his side as he glances back to the unconscious villain.  
"Do the right thing, Barry," his friend tells him. "Act like the type of man Len can be proud of. Don't be a murderer. Be a father."

The hand stops vibrating and Barry hangs his head in shame.  
"Thanks, Ronnie," the speedster says quietly. "I don't-I..."  
"It's okay," his friend pats him on the shoulder. "Friends are supposed to be there in your darkest hours. Now, let's get this scum into a cell."

The Flash runs Gelid to a containment cell prepared by Cisco. Once he's sure the metahuman is secured, he runs back to his family.  
The moment Barry sees Len, he falls apart.

**Len**

Len watches his dad streak passed them in less than a blink. His heart sinks.  
Firestorm flies over to them. "He's taking the meta to a holding cell."  
"Thank you," Iris tells the man and the other adults parrot their own thanks as well.  
"I've got to get back to Caitlin," Ronnie says after accepting their gratitude with a relieved smile. He pats Len on the knee. "You going to be okay, Len?"  
"Yes, sir," Len tells him with the best smile he can manage.  
"I'll be seeing you again sooner than you might want," the man winks at him, then steps away to fly off as Firestorm.

Barry arrives seconds later....and falls to his knees in tears.  
Len pushes out of Iris's lax grip and runs to his father, wrapping his arms around his neck.  
"I'm okay. You saved me. You're my hero, Dad," he tells the man as they hold onto each other.  
Iris joins their little huddle on the ground, followed by Nora, Joe, then Henry.  
They all sit in an awkward, uncomfortable pile as they all cry together.  
Len doesn't feel cold anymore.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Hello Readers! No, we did not forget about Earth-1 Barry. When the speedster makes it to this world, everything will/should/I really hope it will be explained...*
> 
> I own nothing.


End file.
